Behavior
Our behavioral research addresses fundamental questions related to the diversity of social systems: how are individuals of a species distributed in space and time, which sex-specific mating strategies are advantageous under these conditions, how do individuals interact and communicate, and which ultimate factors and cognitive abilities structure their interactions? The comparison of sympatric species in Madagascar provides additional insights into the social evolution and complexity of primate societies.
Cognition
In addition, we investigate the causes and consequences of individual variation in cognitive abilities in primates, carnivores and fish. To this end, we combine cognitive tests on wild animals with accompanying experiments to determine personality traits and with measurements of various fitness indices.